Dave Thompson, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, has condemned the UK Government’s commitment to Trident renewal a few weeks after he spoke at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament event in Fort William.
The Tory-Lib Dem Coalition has chosen to prioritise the £350million renewal of Trident, rather than invest £300 million in 30 shovel-ready projects across Scotland. The £350 million being spent on Trident is part of an expected £20billion to be spent on replacement submarines, which is £333 for every man, woman and child in the United Kingdom on weaponry which, if used, would constitute a war crime. On the other hand, investment in the 30 projects would not only improve roads, educational sites and housing but would also support an estimated 1400 jobs per £100million of capital investment.
On 13 May 2012, Mr Thompson shared a platform with activist Bruce Kent to consider how Scottish independence would spell the end of trident. The SNP is committed to a nuclear-free Scotland and, because the only sites that can house Trident are in Scotland, independence would mean that Trident had nowhere else to go.
Mr Thompson said, “As the UK Government cuts pensions and benefits, it is also investing in weapons of mass destruction. It does not add up. The Coalition Government evidently has its priorities all wrong.
“Scotland does not want nuclear weapons, and never has. Most Scots, including politicians, members of civic Scotland and the general public, are strongly opposed to weapons of mass destruction. Trident is morally, economically and politically unsustainable and I will continue to press for it to be scrapped altogether.
“Recently I spoke in Fort William on nuclear disarmament, which is one of the prizes of independence. In an independent Scotland, we could wave goodbye to weapons of mass destruction and because there are no alternative sites for trident, the UK Government would have to give up its commitment to investing in trident.”
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